Filipino Rebels Kill 21 Villagers Over Peace Deal

Image

Survivors of an attack by Muslim rebels recover in a hospital in southern Philippines on Monday.CreditCreditBen Hajan/European Pressphoto Agency

By Floyd Whaley

July 28, 2014

MANILA — Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines opened fire on a group of about 50 people who were on their way to a religious celebration on Monday, killing at least 21 and wounding 13, military officials said. The dead included a 2-year-old boy.

The group, which included 10 village police officials and about 40 civilians, was traveling between remote villages on the island of Jolo when men on both sides of the road fired automatic weapons at their vehicles, said Capt. Rowena Muyuela, a military spokeswoman. The group was headed for a celebration of the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

“The gunmen fired indiscriminately,” said Captain Muyuela. “Based on initial reports, the motive was retaliatory action for their support of the government’s peace and order campaign.”

The government attributed the attack to Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent extremist group that has carried out bombings and high-profile kidnappings in the southern Philippines. Abu Sayyaf and several other small extremist groups oppose a peace agreement that the government reached four months ago with the largest Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Philippine military has been fighting separatist rebels in the area for more than a decade, backed by United States Special Forces. The region remains plagued with violence despite the peace agreement.

An ambush on June 19 near Patikul, not far from the site of Monday’s attack, killed seven soldiers and wounded 13 more. It was one of 26 attacks in the southern Philippines in June linked to Islamic extremist groups, according to Pacific Strategies and Assessments, a risk mitigation company.

“Without question, armed groups disenfranchised politically by the peace deal will continue to play agitator in the months ahead,” said Matt Williams, director for the company in the Philippines. “In this regard, we are looking at conflict transfer, as opposed to conflict resolution.”

The government is working on legislation to implement the peace deal. In his annual state of the nation address on Monday, President Benigno S. Aquino III appealed for patience with the lengthy drafting process. “It is important to scrutinize each provision we lay down” in the new law, the president said.

Supporters of the deal say if the new law is not enacted before Mr. Aquino leaves office in 2016, it could be in jeopardy.

In June, the United States announced that it would phase out the American military unit that had been supporting antiterrorism operations in the southern Philippines since 2002. The unit’s responsibilities will be taken up by other Philippine and American forces in the country.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Filipino Rebels Kill 21 Villagers Over Peace Deal. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe